The Children of Aulë: The Middle-earth Dwarves Quiz

This challenging quiz about Tolkien's Dwarves delves deeper than Gimli, farther than Thorin Oakenshield, into the very depths of Moria to uncover the Dwarves' secret origins and long history in Middle-earth.

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Question 1 of 30

Who created the Dwarves?

Aulë

We gave you a hint to start off with the title of this quiz — Aulë the Smith, one of the Valar (sort of like Greek gods) of Middle-earth created the Dwarves.

Ilúvatar

Celebrimbor

Question 2 of 30

How many Dwarves did Aulë initially create?

one

seven

He made seven Fathers of the Dwarves. Each of them was the progenitor of a different Dwarf clan. Apparently Aulë made each of them a wife immediately after the Fathers were created, since each of them had a wife with him when he first awoke (except, possibly, one who awoke alone).

1,000

Question 3 of 30

The seven Fathers of the Dwarves awoke in pairs, so their clans were strongly connected afterward, except one. Which of the Fathers awoke alone, and thus settled his clan far from other Dwarves?

Linnar

Úri

Durin

Durin awoke alone (and possibly without even a wife) in Mount Gundabad in the north. He settled the area most commonly known in later years as the Mines of Moria.

Question 4 of 30

What do Dwarves call themselves in their own language?

Khazâd

The Dwarves refer to themselves as Khazâd.

Buzundush

Gundur

Question 5 of 30

What was the name of the kingdom Durin carved out of the Misty Mountains before it was called Moria (which is an Elven word meaning "Black Pit")?

Sigin-tarâg

Thrór

Khazad-dûm

Khazad-dûm translates as "Dwarves' mansion." The Elves began calling it Moria, a name the Dwarves weren't terribly fond of when they still lived there.

Question 6 of 30

Many Dwarves from the other six clans came to live in Khazad-dûm after what event in Middle-earth's First Age?

the destruction of the Two Trees by Morgoth

the Dagor Bragollach

the War of Wrath

In the War of Wrath, Elves, Dwarves and Men backed by the Valar defeated the forces of Morgoth, but Middle-earth was wracked by tremendous destruction. Many of the Dwarven cities were destroyed, and their refugees eventually came to live in Khazad-dûm.

Question 7 of 30

How many Rings of Power did Sauron give to the Dwarves?

two

three

seven

Each of the Dwarven kings (one for each clan) was given a Ring of Power.

Question 8 of 30

Why did Sauron eventually try to reclaim the rings from the Dwarves?

Sauron realized the Dwarves' rings might be used to unmake the One Ring.

The Dwarves were too resistant to their power, and Sauron was unable to control them.

Sauron's intention was to use the One Ring to control the races of Middle-earth via their Rings of Power, but the Dwarves were strangely unaffected by theirs, having been "made…most steadfastly to resist any domination."

Sauron wanted to consolidate their power to strengthen his armies during the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

Question 9 of 30

What affect did the Rings have on the Dwarven kings?

They made them mortal — the Dwarf-Fathers would have lived forever if they'd never taken the rings.

They increased their love of material wealth.

"The only power over them that the Rings wielded was to inflame their hearts with a greed of gold and precious things."

They made them dislike sunlight, increasing their tendency to live underground.

Question 10 of 30

What is the name of the extremely rare metal the Dwarves were renowned for mining and crafting weapons, armor and jewelry out of?

mithril

The only known source of mithril was beneath the Misty Mountains.

ionnatar

idril

Question 11 of 30

Their greed caused the Dwarves in Khazad-dûm to dig deeper and deeper in search of mithril. Under Durin VI, they awakened something with their deepest delvings. What was it?

a shard of Morgoth

a dragon

a Balrog

A Balrog had slumbered deep beneath the mountain since Morgoth's defeat at the end of the First Age. It killed Durin VI and his son and drove all the Dwarves out of Khazad-dûm and was known as Durin's Bane afterward.

Question 12 of 30

When Thrór returned to Khazad-dûm to reclaim it in his later years, the great orc Azog beheaded him. What did Azog carve into Thrór's forehead?

The true name of Durin's Bane.

His own name, "Azog," in Dwarven runes.

Azog carved "Azog" on Thrór's forehead.

A curse on Thrór's line.

Question 13 of 30

Why did the Dwarves under Thráin leave Erebor?

Thráin had gradually gone mad while wearing one of the seven Rings, and he led his people on a fruitless quest to recover the missing Rings from Sauron.

The Noldor laid claim to the mountain, and Thráin and his Dwarves left to prevent a costly war.

The dragon Smaug took over the mountain and drove them out.

Erebor, also known as the Lonely Mountain, was taken by Smaug.

Question 14 of 30

Thráin gathered an army of Dwarves and defeated Azog and the orcs at the Battle of Azanulbizar. However, they were unable to reclaim Khazad-dûm. Why?

The breaking of the dam at Gundulgathu had completely flooded the entire city.

The ferocity of the battle had collapsed the entrance, and not even Dwarves could find a way in.

The Balrog, Durin's Bane, was still there, and they were not powerful enough to defeat it.

After the battle, Thráin's cousin Dáin told him, "I have looked through the shadow of the Gate. Beyond the shadow it waits for you still: Durin's Bane. The world must change and some other power than ours must come before Durin's Folk walk again in Moria."

Question 15 of 30

What is the name of Thráin's son, who eventually leads a quest to destroy Smaug and reclaim Erebor?

Frór

Gimli

Thorin Oakenshield

Thorin Oakenshield, with help from the wizard Gandalf and the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, reclaims Erebor after Smaug is slain by a Man named Bard.

Question 16 of 30

What was notable about the Dwarf named Dís?

He was the only Dwarf to defect and fight for Sauron.

She was the only dwarf-woman mentioned at all by Tolkien.

Dís was the only female Dwarf Tolkien named — she was the mother of Fíli and Kíli.

He was found to have been living in Moria for centuries, hiding from Durin's Bane and the orcs, when Durin VII reclaimed Moria in the Fourth Age.

Question 17 of 30

What proportion of the Dwarven population is made up of women?

one half

one third

Only a third of Dwarves were women, and only some smaller proportion of those ever married and bore children, so the Dwarven population was prone to decline in periods of war or strife.

90 percent

Question 18 of 30

Who carries the mortally wounded Thorin off of the battlefield at the Battle of Five Armies?

Glóin

Bilbo Baggins

Beorn, in the form of a giant bear

Beorn arrives and carries the injured Thorin in one paw. Then he returns to the battle and kills tons of orcs, including Bolg, son of Azog.

Question 19 of 30

Where did the Dwarves who come to aid Thorin at Erabor and fight in the Battle of Five Armies come from?

Why wasn't Gimli part of Thorin's group of Dwarves on the Quest of Erebor?

He was feuding with Bifur at the time.

He was too young.

Gimlui was only 62 at the time, far too young to go off fighting dragons.

He'd been injured fighting an ice drake.

Question 21 of 30

What does Gimli request from Galadriel when the Fellowship is leaving Lothlórien?

the Compass of Celebrimbor

permission to build a home for himself in Lothlórien

a strand of her hair

He asks for a strand of her hair, and she gives him three.

Question 22 of 30

Gimli participates in three of the major battles of the War of the Ring: the Battle of the Hornburg, the Battle of the Morannon and…

the Battle of the Pelennor Fields

The first battle of Gimli's campaign is at the Hornburg, at Helm's Deep. The third is outside the gates of Mordor (the Morannon). In between is the Battle of the Pelennor Fields outside of Minas Tirith.

the Battle of Dale

the Battle of Osgiliath

Question 23 of 30

Who did Gimli go on many journeys with after the War of Ring was over?

Gandalf

Pippin

Legolas

The friendship between Gimli and Legolas helped reforge the bond between Dwarves and Elves that had existed in the First and Second Ages.

Question 24 of 30

Where did Gimli go, eventually, when he was very old?

He traveled east from the Iron Hills and passed out of memory, his final days unrecorded.

He went to Moria, retracing the steps of the Fellowship, and died among the tombs of his ancestors.

He traveled to Valinor, the only Dwarf ever to do so.

Gimli and Legolas sailed to Valinor (a sort of Elf Heaven) together — no other Dwarf was ever permitted to make that journey.

Question 25 of 30

What is iglishmêk?

The "war journey" that a young Dwarf must undertake to transition into adulthood.

A secret Dwarven sign language.

Dwarves used iglishmêk to communicate silently among themselves.

A form of armor made from light metal mesh that only Dwarves knew how to make.

Question 26 of 30

What is the term for the Dwarves' own spoken language?

Dwimorish

Angbarzan

Khuzdul

The Dwarves were somewhat secretive about Khuzdul, only speaking it among themselves and using the other races' languages when speaking to others.

Question 27 of 30

What was the Nauglamir?

a spectacular jeweled necklace made by Dwarves during the First Age

Nauglamir translates as "the necklace of the Dwarves."

the western gate to Moria

a curse laid upon the Firebeard clan by Saruman during the Second Age

Question 28 of 30

After Beren stole one of the Silmaril from Morgoth's Iron Crown, the Elf king Thingol had the Dwarves of Nogrod place it in the Nauglamir. What did the Dwarves do when they decided they wanted the necklace and the Silmaril for themselves?

They killed Thingol and stole the Nauglamir.

The killing of Thingol led to a series of reprisals and outright war between Dwarves and Elves, unmaking the bonds that had previously existed between the two races. This enmity persisted until Gimli and Legolas helped repair the friendship between Dwarves and Elves in the Third Age.

They made a false copy of the Nauglamir to try and trick Thingol.

They revealed the location of Thingol's hidden city to Morgoth.

Question 29 of 30

After he became Lord of the Glittering Caves, Gimli had Dwarven smiths craft what out of mithril?

a crown for Aragorn

new gates for Minas Tirith

Gimli and his Dwarven smiths created massive gates for Minas Tirith from an alloy of mithril and steel (the original gates had been destroyed in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields).

a wedding ring for Aragorn and Arwen

Question 30 of 30

What were the Petty-dwarves?

Nameless Dwarves that had been crafted by Aulë but never given proper life by Ilúvatar.

Dwarves that had been corrupted by Morgoth.

Dwarves that had been exiled from the other clans and settled in Beleriand in the First Age.

The Petty-dwarves were exiles that became almost a separate race over time. The first Elves who encountered them thought they were animals.